Antifascist Prisoner Support

Roman Bogdan was arrested on April 15, 2015, as part of the long-going state repression of anti-fascists in Brest, stemming from a fight between anti-fascists and fascists on May 8, 2013. In October, Roman was sentenced to 8 years in a penal colony and must pay 3500 Euro in damages. On December 15, 2015 a regional appellate court commuted his sentence by 2 years.

Vadim Boyko was arrested on March 22, 2016, on suspicion of participating in a fight that took place on June 29, 2014 between anti-fascist supporters of FC Partyzan and right-wing soccer hooligans from FC Torpedo. The arrests in 2014 were not followed up until 2016, when a special political department decided to start the case with a series of police raids on the antifascists who were alleged to have been involved. On March 10, 2017 Vadim Boyko was sentenced to 4 years of jail, and was re-arrested in July for transfer to a penal colony.

He can read Russian and simple English phrases.

Address:
(Please be aware that this is a transitional address, as Vadim will be transferred to another prison soon. Letters should be forwarded on to the penal colony.)

Vlad Lenko is an antifascist from Ivatsevichi (Brest region). He was arrested on December 27, 2014, and accused of taking part in a fight against local neo-Nazis earlier in December. Vlad was charged with group hooliganism and aggravated bodily harm, and in September 2015 was sentenced to 6 years in a penal colony.

Supporters are trying to raise money to appeal the verdict, which they hope will reduce his sentence by half. They also need to collect 1000 Euro to pay damages ordered by the court.

Maxim Yahnieshka was arrested after a fight on April 1st, 2015, where he was hospitalized in a fight with right-wing hooligans. Cops were called by hospital staff, and Maxim refused to name his attackers to police. After obtaining surveillance camera footage, the police identified the right-wing hooligans and had them accuse Maxim of prior conflicts. On September 7, 2016 he was sentenced to 3 years of custodial restraint for malicious bodily harm, theft of a hat, property destruction, and threatening to kill right-wing hooligans. Appeals to a higher court in November left his sentence unchanged, and on December 12, 2016 he was transferred to an open-type penitentiary institution.

ABC Belarus encourages supporters to help Maxim’s family cover the costs associated with his imprisonment. The “open-type” penitentiary institution requires Maxim to pay for food and other services out of his own pocket. His costs are primarily shouldered by his parents, who are themselves in a terrible financial situation.

Jock Palfreeman is an Australian anti-fascist political prisoner serving a twenty-year prison sentence in Bulgaria for the rather mysterious death of a neo-Nazi football hooligan who was part of a group attacking two Romani men in Sofia, Bulgaria in 2007. Jock came to the aid of the Romani, and quickly found himself the focus of the attack. Bulgarian authorities did everything they could to ensure that Jock did not receive a fair trial, and after his sentencing have refused–in contravention of their own treaties–to transfer him to Australia to serve the rest of his time closer to his family. Jock wants donations for him sent to the Bulgarian Prisoners’ Association, which he is part of.

Aleksandr Kolchenko was arrested in Crimea on May 17, 2014, along with several others, and accused by Russian authorities of participation in a “terrorist group” which planned explosions near the Eternal Fire memorial and the Lenin monument in Simferopol, as well as having sabotaged railway tracks and electricity lines. Aleksandr is also alleged to have carried out two arson attacks in April: against the headquarters of the Russian Unity-Party, and the Russian Community of Crimea. He was transferred to Moscow and is being kept in draconian conditions. His lawyers are under a gag order, and have been refused elementary rights to defend him. He faces fifteen-to-twenty years in a labor camp.

Russian authorities claim that Aleksandr is a member of Right Sektor, a Ukrainian ultra-right nationalist organization, but he has no connection to the group—a fact confirmed by relatives and friends. Moreover, Aleksandr is an antifascist and anarchist who consistently opposed nationalistic movements in Crimea and faced constant fascist attacks for his activism. For example, after a film screening about murdered anti-fascist journalist Anastasiya Baburova, he was attacked by thirty Nazis with knives.

Since this case is highly political, Aleksandr’s legal costs are high, around 850 euro per month. The investigation has created a heavy financial strain on local ABC groups, and there is a call for financial support and information distribution. You can make donations via PayPal to abc-msk@riseup.net or using a bank account (write to the same e-mail address for details).

Joel Almgren was sentenced to five years and six months for defending a local community-organized anti-racist demonstration in Stockholm against a brutal Nazi attack on December 15, 2013. The peaceful protest—against fascist assaults on local anti-racists and the dissemination of Nazi propaganda in area schools—was attacked with knives, sticks, and glass bottles by the most militant Nazi group in Sweden. Anti-fascists at the scene defended the demonstration from the attack and many were injured themselves.

Joel has over 4080 USD in fines, and his supporters are asking for help raising the money.

Powell is the first person sentenced of the over 200 people arrested for the January 20, 2017 demonstration against Donald Trump’s inauguration – #DisruptJ20. On July 7, he was sentenced to 4 months in prison. Dane is a father, veteran, water protector, and active community member.